


Protection

by MamzelleHermy



Category: Prodigal Son (TV 2019)
Genre: Dani being awesome, Night Terrors, Tag to episode 2x02
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-26
Updated: 2021-01-26
Packaged: 2021-03-12 08:54:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,195
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29007888
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MamzelleHermy/pseuds/MamzelleHermy
Summary: [SPOILER for season 2 episode 2 (slight)]A small missing scene with Malcolm and Dani. With Dani being the amazing friend she is!
Relationships: Malcolm Bright & Dani Powell
Comments: 5
Kudos: 42





	Protection

**Author's Note:**

> Hellooo!
> 
> So, yeah, that happened. I don't know, I saw the episode and I thought : I wan't to see how Dani went from "Malcolm is sleeping" to "Let's were protective gear and wake him up".
> 
> Basically, I just needed to write Prodigal Son fanfictions XD. I'm not sure it is perfect but well... Hope someone will still like it!

Dani pulled her coat tighter around her as she walked towards the food truck parked a few blocks away from the precinct. She wouldn’t usually have gone that far in such cold weather but she felt she needed the fresh air. 

Their latest case was disturbing. The casefile photos of the bled-out upside down hanging priest kept attracting her eyesight even if it made her shiver every time. And she wasn’t even that religious. She had been born catholic but religion had felt very useless once her father died when she was only 16. She just couldn’t get that it was any God’s will to get rid of such a good, kind, man.

So, really, she felt there was no point in following any spiritual beliefs. It didn’t mean, however, that she didn’t get the importance it could have for other people or the holy dimension of it. Thus, the shivers. And the need for air.

As expected for such a late hour, there was no one in line to order and food choices were reduced but she managed to order a decent meal that she carried back to the precinct, picking up fries on the way. 

She thought back to what JT had told her about his afternoon’s adventure. It had sounded like the scene of a horror movie. It made her glad she hadn’t been the one to go with Bright for once. Especially when she saw how genuinely scared JT had looked. Which was not an easy feat. In fact, even the usually weird-loving profiler had seemed shaken by the whole ordeal, even if he hid it well. She had seen the shaking hand.

She nodded to the officer on guard and entered the lift that took her to the fourth floor. 

One foot through the bullpen’s door and she knew something was going on. While there weren’t many people left, there was still a handful of officers around, all focused on one place, some more discreetly than others. She frowned. While some seemed tense, she saw a couple rookies sniggering a few feet away.

“What’s going on?” She asked, making both of them jump.

“Ah... Nothing. Just...” One of them, with blond hair and dimples, answered, gesturing behind himself. 

Dani followed directions and her gaze fell on Bright’s desk. Desk upon which said profiler was slumped, obviously asleep.

“Fuck” She breathed. That explained the worried gaze some officers displayed. Those would probably remember the last time Major Crime’s profiler fell asleep on the job.

She sighed tiredly, even as her heart clenched for her friend. She wished she could just let him sleep but she knew how much of a bad idea that would be.

“Go to the armory, get me a Kevlar vest.” She said to the two rookies. They stared at her.

“Do you need assistance for an intervention?” 

“Just do it. Please.” 

Dani had no will to be patient. Not when she will have to interrupt Bright’s sleep, hopefully before the worst of the night terrors hit. 

They left quickly. She placed her already forgotten food on her desk and got rid of her jacket.

“Don’t you all have something else to do?” She called out and most cops went back to their previous occupation. A couple, however, stayed where they were, hands worryingly close to their guns.

Again, Dani sighed. She didn’t need protection. Well, no more protection than the vest could provide. But she guessed that it would be useless to mention that. 

She wondered if they would still stay around if she was JT.

The two rookies came back just as Malcolm started twitching and she knew she had to act. Fast.

“Thanks.”

She quickly put on her vest and carefully approached, calling Bright’s name in hope to anchor him to reality. Her muscles tensed as she readied for Malcolm to suddenly jumped on her. It had happened before and she hadn’t been ready but now she was.

She was only two steps away when Malcolm suddenly jerked backwards in his chair, fear and panic clear in his wide blue eyes and breaths. She rose her hands to appear as non-threatening as possible.

It was almost painful to watch Malcolm gather his bearings, surprise then relief clear before it was replaced by shame.

Shame that wasn’t helped by the still tense looking officers observing him carefully.

“Why are you very wearing body  armor ?”

Dani fought a blush. She felt bad she had to but she knew he would understand. And the sad thing was that he did. He didn’t even look annoyed or surprised once he understood. If nothing else he looked half proud of her idea. 

It was deeply disturbing. And scary. And incredibly sad. She  wished he would have  protested; said she was overreacting.

She wished they weren’t in this situation.

“Come on. You obviously need to go home. I’ll drive.”

At that he looked like he would protest, but his eyes fell on his surroundings and he seemed to decide it would just be less awkward if he disappeared for the rest of the night. She saw his shoulders drop as he reached for his bag. Dani removed her protective gear and let it on her desk chair.

Malcolm was uncharacteristically silent as they drove across the city. Dani wondered if he was still thinking about his dream or if his mind was back on the case. She knew the later would help distract him but was it enough? 

She knew something was wrong with Malcolm. She didn’t know what, she just knew he was off. More than usual. Gil hadn’t believed her and she valued his point of view, especially when their profiler was concerned but, in this case, she knew she was right.

She wished Malcolm would trust her with his burdens but she knew she couldn’t force him. In that regard they were very much the same. They didn’t react well to being pressured to share their problems. They protected themselves like that.

She parked her car in front of his building and killed the engine. Silence engulfed them for a long time as neither moved. Dani glanced at Malcolm from the corner of her eye. He looked exhausted. Well, even more than his usual brand of exhaustion. He looked at the end of his rope. It terrified her. 

“You do know you can talk to me, right?” She finally said. She wasn’t sure it was the right tone. He closed his eyes and breathed in deeply. “I mean it Malcolm.”

He looked chastised. She wasn’t sure how to feel about it. She didn’t want to had more pressure on his obviously already far too stressed self.

“I know.” He finally said, voice quiet, guilt clear. “Want to come up for a drink?”

She had fully expected him to thank her and leave it at this and yet... This was an opening. It wasn’t yet a proper discussion of sharing but it was something. A step in the right direction. 

“Yeah.” She answered. “Yeah, that would be nice.”

The small smile on his face warmed her. Maybe, just maybe, she’ll be able to get  through to him and help.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope it wasn't too terrible! 
> 
> Don't hesitate to comment any mistakes or remarks you have!
> 
> And enjoy tonight's episode! (being in France I'll watch it only tomorrow but I have a feeling it will be one of my favorite episodes ever).
> 
> Take care of yourself, be kind to others.


End file.
